A CELL-CULTURING SYSTEM FOR THE STUDY OF INTERACTION BETWEEN MACROPHAGES INFECTED WITH Leishmania amazonensis

摘要

The cell culture insert system is a culturing system for the study of contact-independent cellular?communication. Leishmaniasis is a neglect tropical disease with no vaccines and the available drugs present toxic side effects. Studies on Leishmania interaction with host macrophages aim?to develop strategies for parasite control and drug development. The purpose of this study was?to evaluate the effects of interaction between non-infected and L. amazonensis-infected human?macrophages, by using the cell culture system. The results showed that the infection index was?reduced by 56.2% as compared to controls only when infected macrophages were inserted?on both sides of the Transwell membranes. An improvement in macrophage viability was?also observed in this cell culture. The levels of interleukin-1β, an inflammatory cytokine, and?nitric oxide, a microbicidal molecule, did not increase in L. amazonensis-infected macrophage cultures in the Transwell system; thus other soluble factors were responsible for parasite?control.